Let's say you want to create a single Full Name column by combining two other columns, First Name and Last Name. To combine first and last names, use the CONCATENATE function or the ampersand (&) operator.

Important: In Excel 2016, Excel Mobile, and Excel Online, this function has been replaced with the CONCAT function. Although the CONCATENATE function is still available for backward compatibility, you should consider using CONCAT from now on. This is because CONCATENATE may not be available in future versions of Excel.

Example

Copy the following example to a blank worksheet.

1

2

3

A

B

First Name

Last Name

Nancy

Davolio

Andrew

Fuller

Formula

Description (Result)

=A2&" "&B2

Combines the names above, separated by a space (Nancy Davolio)

=B3&", "&A3

Combines the names above, separated by a comma (Fuller, Andrew)

=CONCATENATE(A2," ",B2)

Combines the names above, separated by a space (Nancy Davolio)

Note: To replace the formula with the results, select the cells, and on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy
, click Paste
, and then click Paste Values.